Automatic firearm.



No.68l,737. Patented Sept. 3, l90l.

' G. ROTH.'

. AUTOMATIC FIREARM.

I (Application flledAug. 1a, 1900,

(No Model.)

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GEORGES ROTH, OF VIENNA, AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.

AUTOMATIC FIREARM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 681,737, datedSeptember 3, 1901.

Application filed August 18,1900. Serial No. 27.340. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, GEORGES Born, manufacturer, a subject of the Emperorof Austria- Hungary, residing at No.50 Rennweg,Vienna, in the Empire ofAustria-Hungary, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSelf-Cooking Automatic Firearms, of which the following is a full,clear, and exact description.

In connection with automatic firearms a self cocking mechanism common tosome classes of revolvers is often employed, by means of which when thetrigger is pulled the hammer is cooked, thus obviating the necessity ofcocking the hammer by hand before each shot is fired and at the sametime attaining the advantage that the hammer is never actuallyfull-cocked, being always in a position of rest, although the weapon maybe discharged at any moment by simply pulling the trigger. This firingmechanism usually comprises four members-viz., a hammer, a trigger withtumbler, and a two-tongued spring to actuate the hammer and the trigger.When this firing mechanism is employed in connection with automaticfirearms, the operation of the same is not entirely automatic, since thehammer has to be cooked by the triggerpull after each shot has beenfired, and consequently a sharp pull on the trigger is necessary, morepower being required than would be necessary to fire the weapon if thehammer had been properly cooked by hand. This class of weapon is, infact, usually termed a semi-automatic weapon owing to this action.Since, however, these weapons have the advantage of being safe, thehammer being not at full-cock in the position of rest, the disadvantageof having to cook the hammer when pulling the trigger is oftenoverlooked in view of the above-mentioned advantage. According to thepresent invention a fifth member is added to these known self-cockingmechanisms, which operates substantially as a special or additionaltrigger-bolt and by means of which is attained that the trigger needonly be utilized to cook the hammer when firing the first shot, thehammer being subsequently full-cocked by the recoil of the breech-bolt.

In order to render the present specification easily intelligible,reference is had to the accompanying'drawings, in which similar lettersof reference denote similar parts throughout the several views.

Figure l is a side elevation of the parts of an automatic pistol,showing the cheek-plate removed and the hammer in a position of rest,only those parts being shown which are necessary for explaining thepresent invention. Fig. 2 is a similar elevation showing the position ofthe parts when the hammer is at fullcock. Fig. 3 is a detail elevationof the additional member forming the present invention, and Fig. 4 showsa modified form of the mainspring.

In the present case also the firing mechanism comprises the hammer a,the trigger I), having tumbler o, and the mainspring d, having the twotongues e and f. This spring may be made in one piece or may consist oftwo tongues joined together. The tumbler c is pivoted at c to the upperarm of the trigger, and its movement on its pivot is limited in theknown manner by the stops 0 and c on the trigger-arm. The arm or tongue6 acts as the hammer-spring and the tongue f as the trigger-spring, infiuencing at the same time the tumbler, which is pivoted to the triggerb. The latter is pivotally mounted in the housing at b, the hammer abeing pivotally supported in the known manner at h. Although theoperation of these parts is generally known, it will be well to describeit briefly in order to render the present specification easilyintelligible. If the trigger is pulled back from the position shown inFig. 1, the tumbler 0 will push the nose h of the hammer upwardly untilit reaches about the position shown in Fig. 2, thus bringing the hammerCt to the full-cock, whereupon it immediately springs forward into theposition shown in dotted lines under the influence of the spring 6, thetrigger-tumbler having in the meantime been thrown out of engagement, inthat the tumbler c and the nose h of the hammer move in diverging arcsin the known manner. When the shot has been fired and the triggerreleased, the hammer will be forced back to the position shown in Fig. 3by the recoil of the breech-bolt and will then return slightly beyondthe position indicated in Fig. 1, with the nose It resting against thetumbler c, which is its position of rest, as is well known. If a seriesof shots are fired in this manner, the finger of the party firing tires,considerable power being necessary to cook the hammer at each shot bymeans of the pull on the trigger. The

weapon may, however, be considered as safe when in the position shown inFig. 1, because the hammer to is not at full-cock, but in itsposition-of rest, in spite of the fact that the pistol may be dischargedby simply pulling the trigger. In order, however, to enable the firearmto be discharged by a light pull on the trigger in the case of eachshot, with the exception of the first, the hammer should be cockedautomatically. This object is attained according to the presentinvention by adding a special trigger bolt or latch to the knownmechanism,the said latch being indicated byz' and being pivotallymounted at t" in the housing g. The said latch is provided with ashoulder 7c and is spring-pressed downwardly by means of a spring 0%.Thus at each recoil of the breech-bolt after the shot has been fired theshoulder k springs down in front of the shoulder-lot the hammer andretains the latter in the position shown at Fig. 2-2. e., at thefull-cock. The breech-bolt is not illustrated, its movement being wellknown, and when it recoils in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 2 itpushes back the hammer to the full-cock and moves forward again underthe influence of a spring. On firing the next shot the tumbler 0contacts with the nose n of the latch 71 when the trigger is pulled,thus raising the latch and releasing the hammer to. The latter will beagain arrested at the fullcock assoon as the recoil of the cylinder haspushed back the hammer, in that the shoulder is will again engage theshoulder l of the hammer. If the firing is stopped, it would bedangerous to lay aside the weapon, because the hammer is at full-cock,and in order to release the same the latch c is provided with aprojecting arm, as at 0-, by means of which it may be operated from theexterior of the weapon. If the arm 0 is raised, the hammer will fallinto the position of rest indicated at Fig. 1 and the firearm will notbe discharged, because no pull has been exercised on the trigger. Thehammer is prevented from discharging the weapon,in the first place,because the nose p of the same is arrested by a shoulder q of the springf, and, secondly, because the nose h rests against the tumbler 0. Thusin spite of the fact that the weapon is secured a shot may be fired atany moment without first disengaging the hammer by simplypulling thetrigger, in which case the pull for the first shot willhave to be strongenough to first bring the hammer to full-cock, whereafter the latch z'will come into action again in the manner previously described. If thefirst shot has not to be fired suddenly, the hammer may be cocked byhand in the usual manner. It will be evident that the latch 2' need notnecessarily be prolonged backward, as at 0. A lateral arm or a front armor handle might be applied to the same in any convenientmanner,according to circumstances. If the latch dis provided with anupwardly-extending lug *v, as illustrated in Fig. 3, which lug shouldextend into the longitudinal guideway of the breech-cylinder, the saidlatch i may be util ized as a cartridge-ejector or as a means forpreventing the forward movement of the firing-pin, as described inconnection with my patent application of April 14, 1900. The mainspring(1 may also be modified in the manner illustrated in Fig. 4., rigid armsf and e being substituted for the tongues e and said arms being actuatedapart by means of the spring 3. This latter construction is preferable,being altogether stronger, and the spring 5 being interchangeable thepressure of the parts may be varied at will by placing a stronger orlighter spring between the two arms.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a firearm having a self-cocking firingmechanism the combination of a latch pivot ally supported in proximityto the hammer tail and the trigger-tumbler, a spring to depress saidlatch down in the direction toward the hammer-tail, a shoulder at thelower part of the said latch and a shoulder on the ham mer-tail intowhich said latch-shoulder engages when the hammer is at full-cock, meansin connection with the trigger to disengage the said latch when thetrigger is pulled to discharge the weapon, and means for disengaging thesaid latch by hand from the extorior of the weapon and for arresting thesaid hammer in its position of rest when disen gaged by hand in themanner and for the purpose substantially as described.

2. In a firearm having self-cocking firing mechanism, the combination ofmeans for automatically bringing the hammer to the f ull cock after ashot has been fired and means in connection with the trigger forreleasing the hammer when the trigger is pulled, actuating mechanism forthe trigger, tumbler and hammer consisting of two pivotally-connectedarms 6 and f, and a spring to press the same apart said arms beingpivotally supported within the housing between the trigger-tumbler andthe hammer one arm of the pair bearing against the tumbler and the otheragainst the hammer-tail substantially as described.

3. In a firearm having a self-cocking firing mechanism, the combinationof a latch pivotally supported above the hammer-tail and springpresseddownwardly, a shoulder to said latch and a shoulder to the hammer-tail,with which the said latch engages whenthe hammer has been pushed back tothe fullcock, a nose on the latch with which the trigger-tumbler engagesto disengage the latch when the weapon is fired, and an upwardprojection to the said latch adapted to be projected into the path ofmovement of the breech-bolt in the manner and for the purposesuhstantially as described. 10

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twowitnesses.

GEORGES ROTH.

Witnesses:

ALVEsTo VS. HOGUE, AUGUST FUeeER.

